All In: Student Pathways Forward
This podcast focuses on elevating community college student voices to shape inclusive higher education and workforce development policies, practice and partnerships that create economic mobility.
All In: Student Pathways Forward
Treasure Valley Community College - Student James Toms & President Dr. Dana Young; Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon Policy Advocate Chloe Eberhardt
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In this episode, Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) student, James Toms, talks about his experience as a returning student to college and how different programs and supports on campus have helped him pursue a Medical Assisting certificate at the college and a new career in healthcare. He shares great suggestions on how the college can continue to help students facing unmet financial need.
Afterwards, the President of TVCC, Dr. Dana Young, discusses the importance of the statewide Pathways to Opportunity initiative which helps connect students with benefits and resources. She shares her own family journey through higher education and how much she can relate to students facing basic needs insecurity.
Lastly, Chloe Eberhardt from Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, talks about how and why the organization’s advocacy efforts have centered on higher education students who have faced disproportionate food insecurity in Oregon. Chloe provides more information on a current bill in the 2021 Oregon legislative session, HB2835, which would provide a benefits navigator at each of the community colleges and public universities to assist students in maximizing benefits and resources available to them.
Welcome to the All-Hand Student Pathways 4 podcast, where we're focused on elevating student voices from working community colleges to state inclusive policies, programs, and partnerships. This is Mark Golbert, the host, and I'm very happy to have the chance to talk with and work from different working community college students as well as other higher education leaders. Thanks for listening. In this episode, I have the chance to speak with James, an amazing student at Treasure Valley Community College. After that, I'll have a discussion with the president of Treasure Valley, Dr. Damon Young. And lastly, I have a conversation with Chloe Eberhart, who's the policy advocate at Partners for Hunger-Free Oregon, a statewide nonprofit agency doing incredible policy work focused on student food insecurity. Thanks for listening in.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much for having me. Like you said, my name is James. I actually go to the Treasure Valley Community College. I've done most of my work either online or in class.
SPEAKER_03So I'm wondering, James, if you could talk about your past work and college experience and how you decided to enroll at Treasure Valley Community College.
SPEAKER_00Well, like most, I actually started right out of high school. I went to college for uh I would say about a year and a half. Uh then I got married, had a kid, and I guess life, like some people in my age group that have started college and life kind of kicks them in the butt and says, No, you got to do it this way. And school got put on hold. So for the next uh, I would say almost 20 years, I jumped around from jobs. I've had uh jobs everything from security, uh right. And I've also done uh the last job that I had prior to coming to college is I worked for Pepsi. I was a route driver for them. And actually, I wasn't planning on leaving them either. I was uh planning on being a long time lifelong uh there until I retired, but an accident kind of took me out of that. Once the accident happened, it kind of put me into a place where I couldn't do a lot of the stuff that I was able to do before physically, so I had to figure out something to do. Well, because of my health issues and uh dealt with cancer, dealt with a fractured back, and now I'm dealing with still lower back pain, but the majority of it was a head injury and shoulder injury that took me out of the physical game this time. So I had to decide on something better to do because everything I thought I was able to do, people were turning me down because they were telling me I didn't have the education for it, which was kind of funny because some of the jobs I was looking for were office jobs sitting in a hotel running a front office desk. Prior to working for Pepsi, which I started there in 2007, for about three years, I started out working at the front desk clerk at a Super 8, and the manager there went and bought a hotel and put me in charge of it. So basically, me and my wife were hotel managers for a good portion of the year. Like I said, once I had my accident, I tried to go back to some of those jobs working as a hotel clerk or even a hotel manager. Because I didn't have that associate's degree or didn't have a degree of some type, they weren't hired. So it made it real difficult. So I figured I've got to do something. I've always felt myself never being one that sits behind a desk. I always felt something had to challenge me, and a desk job just didn't seem like it would challenge me. So I decided I want to get into phlebotomy. I went down and I was calling around and I called TVCC and they said, Well, we don't have a phlebotomy class, but we do have an MA class, a medical assistant class. I'm like, okay, I'm not wanting to do a two-year program. I'm not really wanting to do an associate's degree, I just want to get a certificate so that I can get into a job. And lo and behold, here it is. I I knew it was gonna take me a little bit because of my head injury and stuff like that. But because of the support I had from Charla, Charlene, Vera, and all of them at the steps program, I was actually able to stay on track with my school uh work. And in the process, I got connected with uh the peer mentorship that's there at the school. When I started school, one of my first things that I was able to get was a work study working for the steps program, which I thought that was great. I got in there that they worked with my schedule, so they gave me so much support and being able to still work a little bit to earn some income to um help pay for those little bills that the financial aid didn't cover was great. It really helped.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic to hear, and and thank you for sharing your journey back to school at Treasure Valley and how you've shifted from different chapters of jobs and careers to a new one in healthcare. I know that many community college leaders hear from students that funding college at times can be a major source of stress. Yes. What resources within the college or even outside the college have been most helpful to you in addressing the costs of college?
SPEAKER_00But because of the support they got me and the help they got me with other programs, such as uh OEA Tech, uh one of the first people that helped me get into this the schooling was vote rehab. They they're the ones that pointed me towards a STEP program. And so instead of just saying, okay, the student's gonna have to take care of this, let's see what other system programs we have to do. And that's where they got involved with OEA and tech to help pay for those schoolings. In today's society, everybody's like, I want free schooling, I want free schooling. Honestly, this type of program gives that to the student. All it asks for you is to study, to go to class. You have to apply for financial aid in most colleges, but with a program like this, where they paid for that, me being able to get my financial aid allowed me to pay my bills through the time of my semester. So I was able to pay my bills. There was a few that were short, and that's where the work study came in. I think if every student had that opportunity, there would probably be a little bit more success if they applied. You still have to apply yourself. And in some cases, those same programs will help you with getting gas to go to school. Because even though you get financial aid, and some of these programs pay entirely for the school itself, you still have outside bills that you have to pay, rent, electric, stuff like that. There are programs that we were lucky to get onto, like HUD and stuff like that. But even still, if you got car, you you got maintenance for your car. If it breaks down, you can't go to school all the time. You got to track for that bus. So those other life expenses that they they seem to hold against you because you're trying to better yourself. That's one of the problems that I see with that. If you've got somebody that's willing to better themselves and get completely off the system, help them until they can get off the system. Don't punish them for having to make that money to keep doing both and still survive, especially those family with kids. I understand they could get a bunch of food stamps, but food stamps doesn't, if you've got a baby, food stamps don't buy diapers. Taking care of a kid is more than just food. And how do you fix that line there? In some ways, I'm kind of lucky. My kids are all grown and out of the house. I don't know if you want to uh go over this, but in 2000, I had a bad accident where I almost uh, according to them, I fractured my back, couldn't walk, couldn't do stuff like that. Got real depressed, and at the time where I was at, there really wasn't a whole lot to help. And because of the depression, it actually caused me to try to take my life. When this accident happened, again, it was another life-changing accident, and my wife really got worried about it. She was afraid that I would fall back into that depression. But I started going into the Volk rehab, I started going into Lifeways. In fact, that's another thing that people don't understand. Lifeways is another big uh help for the community. Ontario does have a lifeways, and it's where you go in and talk to a counselor. I went and talked to a counselor, and they have programs there that they can help you with trying to get a job. But one thing that I found different from this is because I started school, I had a hope that I didn't have the first time. Once I graduate school, I see where I can go into not just one profession, but thanks to the schooling and the certificate that I'm gonna be getting, I can go into four different professions. So I'm never gonna be falling back into a spot where I can't do something for my family. I'm never gonna fall back into that hopelessness again because now I'm getting that education. I can always get something else. So for this this time, like I said, school has been a big blessing for me.
SPEAKER_03I'm so sorry, James, that you had that experience and glad that you're in uh in a better place now. Thank you for sharing your story and what you faced and where you're at now and how valuable the experience you've had at Treasure Valley has been for your future career. I'm thinking about what you've said in terms of the staff and faculty at the college that have been helpful to you. Could you talk a little bit more about how they've helped you connect with benefits and resources and beyond?
SPEAKER_00Uh Charla and Charlene still work collectively on the STEPS program now. And how they've helped me, Charlotte is like, okay, this is what we need to do to help you get your funding. Uh, this is what I can do, this is what OEA can do, this is what tech can do. Charlene is the one that actually got me into the steps job in the first place. She also introduced me to the peer mentorship program. So that's how they've helped me there. Vera, I go talk to her about the financial aid, and she's telling me all different things that can help me there and help other students. It's not just me. These are programs that can help other students as well that they don't know about.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, and just hearing you talk about the different staff members that have helped you navigate systems and identify resources. It sounds like it's been a whole team effort. As a peer mentor, it sounds like you've been helping other students navigate the college and at times connect with resources and benefits that they deserve and may need. But at times, many students don't access these resources because they believe other students may need them more, or some of these benefits may be stigmatized. How have you helped change these students' assumptions and get students accessing these benefits that are available to them?
SPEAKER_00Well, like you said, because I just started working with other students from outside of the STEPS program, I'm trying to let them know that these resources are there for them. This isn't just because it's the GED department or the certificate department is connected to this building. It's for you. Use every resource that you can use to succeed. You know, in order for B steps, you have to be on SNAP, which is food stamps. And what some people may see that, especially since some of this side is more conservative, is well, that's for poor people. No, the way I see it is the food stamps and stuff like that, it's supposed to be something that helps you get on your feet until you can get on your feet. That's what people need to understand. And a lot of students that you know that come straight out of high school, mom and dad may have never ever been on food stamps, and they may have looked down on people that have been that way or saw it as a bleed on the system. But if the system works for getting those people better instead of staying on the system, you're gonna get a lot more out of the system, period, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03Totally. And knowing that the STEP program that is designed to support students receiving food stamps assists students in continuing their education and building their skills so that they can find jobs and careers with economic mobility where they may not need those resources.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And that's that's the whole point that I see the STEPS program as. I'm from that generation where it actually took me a lot to ask for help, honestly. But I see the benefits of it. So asking for that help, especially being a guy in today's society, that makes it even worse. Uh, in some cases, asking for that help kind of make you feel less less of, if you come from the generation that I did, less manly or masculine. But it's not really, you know, it's like asking a friend for a help up out of a ditch. As long as you know that at some point you're gonna repay that favor back to that friend. And that's what these programs should be. And I'm not telling everybody go on food stamps and get an education, but if that's a route that's gonna get you and make you successful, to get out of that nine to five job that is going nowhere, or get out of working for McDonald's. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad jobs. That's a great starter job, but it shouldn't be your lifelong goal. And by getting involved with a program like the Steps or The Snap, and getting involved in that and getting that education, you're gonna benefit from that more than if you're going through halfway through school and all of a sudden you get that $10 an hour job full time, but where are you gonna be at in 10 years?
SPEAKER_03Right. They may not provide the same economic mobility as a job that someone qualifies for after getting a college certificate or a degree.
SPEAKER_00Right. And that's that's one thing that I liked about the program, about every single program that they offer through the STEPS program for certification, you can almost get two or three certifications out of it. That makes it where you have several different qualifications to fall back on, even on that one certificate.
SPEAKER_03As you were just talking about how challenging it can be for students to juggle all the costs, but also life, right? So, so parenting, work, other family responsibilities with students' education. I'm wondering from your perspective, what type of college policies could make it easier for students who are juggling all of that at once?
SPEAKER_00Uh well, one of the complaints that I've I've actually talked to some of the students about the child care. One of the complaints that they have is it's kind of hard to study at home. I mean, even as you saw here, you get background. So having places and making it known to everybody that you can come and study. Maybe having um at the library something for the kids to do while the parents study, something like that would be a big benefit to some students. Certain hours you set something aside for like a reading for for kids, for young toddlers, something for that, so that they can go and sit with for an hour so that parents can study for an hour. Something like that might be a good idea. For those like Charlotte, one of the other things that she's had was is she'll get gas cards and give a student a gas card. And that's another way that that can help out.
SPEAKER_03The suggestions you've made are are really insightful, James, in thinking about students who may have some difficulty with childcare and different ideas on how to support students while they're juggling family responsibilities. Many educators and community college staff are we're all doing our best to help students succeed, and we have our own ideas of what is most important. But to me, it's really valuable to hear from you as a student at Treasure Valley from your perspective. What is the most important thing we can all do to help students succeed?
SPEAKER_00Support. That's a key thing that's helped me. Because I've had the support of the staff members that work in the step, I've had the support of my professors, but they were there to listen to me, but I have to take that step to ask or to question or to ask for the help on things. So from what I've seen, especially at Treasure Valley, that's not an issue. It's the student that needs to come out a little bit. Uh, because a lot of students don't. You mean you can do that? Helping with peer mentors. I've one person came in, she was falling behind. I said, Look, this is what you need to do. Explain to your professor what's going on. You've had some hard times, you're working on your assignments, and give her a time date that you can, but the support that I had from my professors, that's that's the key thing.
SPEAKER_03So it sounds like just that ongoing support from all faculty and staff in different ways, and and how that's made a difference to you. And you started to talk about students and the role they play and how they can be proactive. And that's my next question is if there are other students that are interested in listening to this podcast series and this episode, what advice would you give to other students at Treasure Valley and and different community colleges based on your own experience as a student and also as a peer mentor?
SPEAKER_00Don't be afraid to ask questions. It's an old saying that I've grew up with. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Come out of your show a little bit. Go to your uh student office, go talk to your student council. Don't be afraid to voice your opinion to them either. That's what they're there for. If you are outgoing and stuff, sign up for something. Do something that's part of the school. There's clubs, there's pure mental. I'm not sure if the peer mental program is all over the state, but if there are, join up for it. You know, sign up for it. Um there's the student congress. To the fellow students, just come out of your shelves.
SPEAKER_03What you've just shared is really insightful and in encouraging students to ask questions, to be active, to get involved in a variety of ways, and that will make their college experience better for them and more supportive. And I think from your own experience and talking about being a peer mentor as one option, too, it's it's really made a difference, not just for you, but for other students in return. Do you have any other ideas on how colleges can listen to students better so that we develop policies and programs that put students in the best position to succeed in college and beyond?
SPEAKER_00Something like this podcast, having a orientations and stuff like that, but then we also have where the clubs can get out, but maybe even having something like um like a podcast there and getting students to come up and talk about their own experiences and stuff. Not just not just the ones or two, but every experience, you know, just a regular come up, sit and chat with me, tell me what's what's going on in your life kind of deal. And then broadcast it to whether the students can see it, like a student podcast that you can have in the the dorms or in different buildings, and you and when the students walk by, they can see it and listen to it, watch it for a few minutes.
SPEAKER_03Building on this format of the podcast where it's a chance to have a conversation with students and for others to hear that in different ways and sounds like out in the open on campus to hear students' stories and and suggestions and and insights as as you've provided here. How has your experience at Treasure Valley Community College been impactful in your life?
SPEAKER_00It's the the shining star of the hope, because I know at the end of this, so the light is shining at the end of the tunnel there. So TVCC has been, like I said, a it's a shining star in the For my future. I just see everything that I've done. My future is burning brighter. Even though I'm 46 years old, it's going to give me another opportunity to go another 20, 30 years.
SPEAKER_03It sounds like the experience you've had at Treasure Valley with the staff and faculty and the opportunities as a peer mentor have provided a rich experience and will help you to continue on with this new career. I just want to wrap up by thanking you again for sharing so much about your own journey with me and for this podcast. And I know that anyone who's listening will really take a lot from all of the insights you've offered. Just appreciate you talking about your experience at Treasure Valley.
SPEAKER_00Well, my thing is, if it helps somebody else, then great.
SPEAKER_03I wish you the best of luck for the next term and into the future. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. I'd like to introduce my next guest for this podcast, which is the president of Treasure Valley Community College, Dr. Dana Young. Welcome, President Young.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. It's great to be here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thank you for joining me. Before we dive in, I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more just about Treasure Valley for listeners who may not be as familiar with your college.
SPEAKER_01Sure. Well, Treasure Valley Community College is located in beautiful Ontario, Oregon, which is in southeastern Oregon, right along the Idaho border. It's very rural, agriculturally based, and we have about 3,500 students typically in any given year. And you know, we serve an area that is high in poverty rates, and we work hard to bring the students along to finding ways to lift their families and themselves out of poverty, and we see education as the best way to do that.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Well, thanks for sharing more about the college and where it's located and the student population. I know you had the chance to listen to the interview that I had with James Toms, who's a student at Treasure Valley Community College. And I'm curious what your overall reactions were to the discussion I had with James earlier in this podcast episode.
SPEAKER_01So let me start by saying how proud I am of James. There were a few things in the podcast that I didn't know about James already, and it was really nice of him to be able to share his story for others who may be experiencing the same types of challenges and struggles. You know, overall I saw James as a student who came to us with significant challenges, and he was able to apply himself and overcome those challenges and really be able to work toward bettering himself and providing for his family. What I really heard him say several times was that access to all of the resources that are available made a huge difference for him. Because I think James and many other students don't always know what's available in the community in terms of resources, and it's hard to piece all those parts together if you don't have somebody helping you navigate it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and he talked about the different staff that helped him identify what resources, be it financial aid, scholarships with a foundation, the STEP GRAN, all of these different resources within the college and outside that have helped him to succeed in school and not have to worry about those finances as much.
SPEAKER_01Those resources are they're just imperative.
SPEAKER_03From the conversation with James, did you hear anything that highlighted work that Treasure Valley is doing well to address students' unmet financial needs?
SPEAKER_01Well, what I heard James say is that we were actually doing a pretty great job, so that was exciting to hear. He talked about the STEP program and how important that was just to kind of giving him some basic grounding in addition to his Pell Grant, the federal financial aid and state financial aid that are available. And tech was really the training employment consortium here in town. And Voke Rehab kind of coming in another door to help him out. Putting all those pieces together and stacking them up helped to pay those monthly bills. So there's some money for tuition and fees and for food and things like that. But in addition to the things that he needed for his academics, other things happen, like your car breaks down and you need car maintenance, or you need some gas, or you need diapers, or whatever it is that a student may need, that these other organizations can step in and help out to shore that student up. And what I think we've done a really great job of at Treasure Valley, and I heard James give testimony to this, is that we help put all of those things together for the student, introduce them to the right people, get them connected, even help them fill out forms and visit with people so that they don't feel like they're approaching this alone. So that support is just so important for his success.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that was really clear from his description of that. I would add just from what I heard that Treasure Valley has been really innovative in that support work in creating peer mentor positions, which James talked about and having students really support one another. He elaborated too in saying, you know, students connect with him because he's he's one of their classmates. And so kudos to you and and the college for really thinking about creative ways that students can support one another.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely. It was so exciting to hear him not only talk about how those peer mentors had helped him, but then because it had been so helpful to him, he decided to become a peer mentor to help others, and that was sort of his way of giving back.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. So, did you hear anything that could illuminate a new opportunity for the college that supports student success, especially for adult students like James?
SPEAKER_01I did actually. Lack of child care came through pretty loud and clear, and we do not have a child care center here on campus. We do have a partnership with Giggles and Grace, a local child care provider. But what I heard him say is just having more study spaces on campus, like in the library, where adult students could bring their children, and maybe the children could have a story time or do some reading with a librarian while the parents, the students, have time to study and get an hour of studying in here and there throughout the week would be really, really helpful. What I heard from James is if students could get more engaged either as a peer mentor or they could join the associated student government or a club, become part of an activity, being more connected with the college in a different way and getting their voices heard. One of the things we have here at TVCC, we call it food for thought, and in non-COVID times, we actually bring the students in and feed them and ask their opinion. So every time we do one, there are different topics throughout the year, and we ask students to give us feedback or give themselves feedback, and then we can change our programming or a policy based on what we hear back from those students. During COVID times, we do a lot of that via Zoom and by surveying, sending out surveys to students.
SPEAKER_03That's great, and it sounds like that really does enhance the decision-making process for the college. So I know, Dr. Young, you've been really involved as one of a number of college presidents across the state in the Pathways to Opportunity Framework, which is a statewide coalition that's really helping students maximize benefits and resources to close opportunity gaps and create economic mobility. And I'm curious if you could talk about pathways to opportunity and how that framework aligns with your priorities as the president of the college.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Well, this is a passion of mine. I think that Pathways to Opportunity is a framework that allows all students, regardless of your background, regardless of your history, your past, this is an opportunity for every student to get an education. And that's what we really are about. Educations come in many different forms. You know, it might be a short-term certificate, it might be a one-year degree or certificate, it might be a two-year degree, it might be that I'm here two years and I and I'm going to transfer on and get my four-year degree and then my master's and then my doctoral degree. Whatever those goals are, we want to be the first place that students think of in our region when they're looking for an education. And pathways to opportunity opens that door for everyone, not just a few. So I'm a perfect example of that. When I was growing up, we came from a lower middle-income family, and uh we moved out to Oregon from Illinois, and we didn't know anyone. And my father took a job at the local lumber mill. And when I was in high school, he was laid off from that lumber mill. And my mother at that time was a stay-at-home mom, and so it was a real challenge for our family, and we had to go on food stamps, and it was hard. You know, it was hard because you're used to supporting yourself and you're used to being able to provide, but at that time in our lives, we had to ask for a hand up again, not a handout, but a hand up for a short period of time. And my mother decided to go back to school, and she came to Treasure Valley Community College, and she earned her uh LPN degree, and so she became a licensed practical nurse, and then she was able to go to work at the local hospital, and it was a lifelong dream of hers. My mother did not graduate from high school, she became pregnant while she was in high school. My father and mother became pregnant. In those days, you couldn't go to high school if you were pregnant, you had to quit, and so she had to first go earn her GED and then come to Treasure Valley, finish that LPN, and then that just laid out a roadmap for me as her daughter to say, wow, my mom can do this, you know, I can do this. And so there was never any question in my parents' mind, I was always going to college. It was important to get an education, they understood the value and the importance of it, but we had no idea really how to go about it. So they helped me fill out my FAFSA form, which you know was very complicated, and we got it done, we turned it in, and I was able to go to college, but it was really, really tight. You know, it was uh it was a sacrifice for my parents, and there wasn't a lot of financial aid. So I worked uh while I went to school, and I had a federal college work study job, so I really had to uh figure out all the different ways to piece it all together, so to speak. And if I hadn't had the opportunity to be able to rely on some food subsidy, it would have been very difficult for me to succeed because you know you have to eat in order to be able to think in class and to keep going. And so for me, that was a game changer.
SPEAKER_03Wow, that's a remarkable story to have had your own journey and family journey, your mom taking classes there, and being able to relate to student realities, it sounds like has really helped shape how you've supported pathways to opportunity that is inclusive and can support and address students who may be facing similar realities.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I can relate to them directly. I also was a what I call a stop-out student. So I went to college for three years and I thought I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, and then I decided I'm not sure that's the career that I want. And so I stopped out for a while, and uh much to my parents' chagrin, and I had to think about things, and then I went back and finished up, but that was hard too. So I can relate to many of the things that students are experiencing, either not knowing what they want to do or knowing what they want to do, but not having the resources and and the means to do it. I can always find ways to help students get there.
SPEAKER_03That's wonderful to have that unique perspective. It must uh influence your decision making and and the ways that you've created a culture at the college that really is there wholeheartedly to support students and help them navigate these complicated systems.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Just thinking about the current economic situation during the COVID-19 pandemic and even before then, and seeing that different parts of the state, more rural, did not have the same economic boom in some cases as the metropolitan areas, and then more of the rural areas have also been impacted even further during COVID. So I'm wondering how the Pathways to Opportunity Initiative can help rebuild and create a more inclusive economy for rural communities in eastern Oregon.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I think what it has done for us here is we have been meeting uh with our uh local providers, so other agencies, so Department of Human Services and the Oregon Department of Employment, Training Employment Consortium, ODHC, and we have all been meeting together regularly to say how can we work together to best support students? A lot of our our students that go into the program come to us through DHS, and they're fed into Charla, and she is our step coach. She gets right in there and she just she works directly with them to say, okay, your situation, here's what we need to do with you. And she's like a sorter. A lot of our students are ESL students, and so we have a full-blown full-time ESL program at the college. We have a growing immigrant population, which is a I'll call it a spillover from Boise, Idaho area. It's been fantastic for our community to get this rich cultural diversity. They're teaching us things. While they're learning from us, we're learning from them. And it's been great. It's been very exciting.
SPEAKER_03As we wrap up, I'm wondering if there's anything else that you'd you'd like to share.
SPEAKER_01Well, I guess I would just say that you know TVCC is committed to serving all students in whatever way we want to meet them where they are. Community colleges are open-door colleges. And even if you've never been, if you've never been to college and never thought of yourself as a college student, I invite people to come check us out. And um, these podcasts are great. Uh, by the way, um, you know, James mentioned that more student testimonials, more podcasts, getting the word out, uh, sharing it across campus. And he suggests that we do these podcasts ourselves and and push them out so that students can hear about other students' experiences. And I think using this podcast for our community, I would love to push this out and just say, here's a story of one of our students. And I think it would give hope to others.
SPEAKER_03Well, thank you for doing that, and and even more so for taking the time and your extremely busy schedule to chat with me as part of this podcast. And overall for your leadership uh for the community college and for the community at large. I'd also just want to thank you for sharing your own personal story because it shows how critical this work is for students and for the institution. So thank you again for chatting with me and offering your insights as the college president.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you, and thank you for the opportunity to share. It's my passion.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'd like to welcome Chloe Eberhart to the podcast today. Chloe is the policy advocate for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. So welcome Chloe.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for having me, Mark.
SPEAKER_03So, in Chloe's role, she strategizes and leads coordination on several key initiative campaigns that engage with the community through advocacy organizing and policy development for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. And that has also included focusing on expanding SNAP access in Oregon as well as co-leading the Hunger Free Campuses Initiative, which I think we'll talk about in a little bit. So thanks for joining the podcast today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_03So just to start us off, I'm wondering, Chloe, if you could share a little bit more about Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon as an organization, and in particular the Hunger Free Campuses campaign that you've all been focused on.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Well, so Hunger Free Oregon, we are a statewide advocacy organization in Oregon, and we focus, as our name says, on ending hunger in our state. And really, we believe we know that hunger exists because of political will to address it. So we have the solutions, we know how to solve it. It's just a matter of getting people to do it. So that's really what our focus is. And we work alongside those most impacted by hunger and poverty to enact changes to our systems. Because for us, you know, a lot of our organization, we come from a place of lived experience with the root causes of hunger and poverty. And so we really center and bring that expertise along with knowing that it lives in our community. And we want to see those system changes happen so that really everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Um, so that's really what centers our work. And then hunger-free campuses for us is just a critical campaign around addressing college student basic need insecurity. Um, you know, really, we believe that all students have the right to be free from hunger, from poverty and houselessness to pursue their education and focus on that and really like achieve the dreams that they want out of their education. So that is what we focus on with the work and the campaign. And we're driven to do this because we're looking at a crisis right now for college students with basic need insecurity. We know what the pandemic has done is disproportionately impact communities that were already impacted by inequitable systems pre-pandemic. So we know that college students are one of those groups that were and have been continually impacted by just our exploding cost of living and the difficulties of just managing that all in a higher ed setting.
SPEAKER_03Well, thank you for providing that background and context. And we know 63% of community college students across the state have faced one type of basic needs at least. One type of basic needs insecurity within the last year food insecurity, housing insecurity, and or homelessness. And I think just building on that right now, what I've learned is it's an estimated one out of four Oregonians that are facing food insecurity. And prior to COVID, I believe it was maybe even one out of eight. So dramatic changes because of this in the last year. How did partners decide to focus efforts on on college students and what does that look like?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, it's a good question. I mean, the pandemic has really pushed us backwards in terms of where we were, you know, we were starting to see our food insecurity rates go down from the last recession and start to stabilize in Oregon, and then the pandemic hit and that really reversed that. But the reality is that for our communities of color, for college students, for other Oregonians that are often marginalized, you know, that experience of the betterment kind of post-recession, the more stabilization of food insecurity wasn't happening. It's, you know, really that disproportionate experiences. So for us, when we look at college students nationwide, they're four times more likely to experience hunger than the general population. That is unacceptable. So for us, focusing on students is first because that is a crisis, you know, 63%, that is the vast majority of students that are um in that situation. And so that 63% number here in Oregon, that was pre-pandemic. I would imagine it's increased quite a bit. So for us, that really drives some of it is that we can't ignore the fact that college students are really in this crisis place. But also for us, you know, knowing that education is often a way or a pathway out of poverty in that way that we think about education opens up a living wage job opportunities. And so for us, knowing that being able to access and go to higher ed and be successful there means that someone has much less chance of experiencing hunger in their life. That means we have to focus on access to higher education. So for us, I think that's also drives this. And then kind of the other level is that this is a passion for us because we have personal experience with this. So our Hunger Free Campuses team, you know, we all have lived experience accessing programs, accessing benefits, navigating these systems. But two of our team members, Venus and Chris, were college student parents that experienced food insecurity and housing insecurity during their time in college. While they were trying to really get their degrees, make things happen, get different opportunities for their families. So we're also really know this on a deeper level and really relate to a lot of the students we get to interact with. So I would say Chris and Venus are leaders in terms of shaping how this work is for us because of that experience. And so it really helps kind of set and guide our North Star in this work.
SPEAKER_03And that to me leads into a question I wanted to ask you about a bill in this legislative session in Oregon. So I know that Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon has taken an incredible leadership role statewide during this session to push on House Bill 2835 that would provide a benefits navigator at each of the community colleges and public universities. So could you talk a little bit more about that bill and how it can holistically address food insecurity that students are facing across the state?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Well, this is a really important point of advocacy for us in trying to enact HB2835. So, first and foremost, this bill would establish benefit navigators, like you said, at all community colleges in Oregon and public universities. And that will help students really be able to get access to public benefits, to other resources holistic ways, because what we've seen in practice and in talking with students is that navigating those systems and accessing resources that come from and are available in so many different places can be really challenging. It's hard to know what's out there, it's hard to know how you qualify, and then it's also really challenging to both apply and then troubleshoot any issues that might come up. So the concept for this policy came from students. That's why we felt confident being behind it. In pre-pandemic, we were able to do a series of listening circles with students at 11 community colleges and universities around the state. And then we did an online survey as well. And this gave us such a chance to hear from students like what are your needs? What are your solutions? Because you're the experts in how to really make this all work. And so many amazing ideas came up that really can lead us to long-term policy change. And one of the really great ones was if I had someone that I could go to and it was super clear where I go, who that person is, and they have this knowledge to walk me through these programs, it would help it make it more possible for me to access resources I need to be able to stay in school. There's a lot of staff and faculty and administrators and students who are doing the work of getting the word out about resources and information, but if you don't know the right person, you might not know how to access that stuff. And so this would really make it more systematic. What else I really love about this bill is that it creates a community of practice and it loops in community colleges and universities together. There's so much that can happen between best practice sharing that I think will really help advance more policy solutions in our state and best practices for supporting students to meet their unmet financial needs so that they can really focus in on school. And then the third piece that really makes it even more critical is just that it asks for colleges to have students involved in the decision making around addressing food insecurity, housing insecurity, and other basic media insecurity at their colleges. Because for us, students are the leaders, they have the solutions, they know what they need, and having a space to dialogue with people that might have the administrative power to make that happen or the legislative power to make that happen, I think will just benefit our state so much.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. One more question on that. I know Partners for Hunger Free Oregon is really involved in the colleges and universities. Are there other partners that have been key in this collaborative work for House Bill 2835?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. The Oregon Student Association has just been such an amazing partner in this work. You know, they are an advocacy organization for college students and are so great at lifting up the expertise, the leadership, and the voice of students into the legislative space. We couldn't do it without working with them. I feel so much momentum around this right now because I feel like students in Oregon are engaged in this. And so to see that what students have been able to do at their respective colleges or universities has just been pretty amazing. And so then getting the power behind that to lift that up to statewide policy and then seeing how that'll cycle back around and impact what happens on campus, it's just it's exciting.
SPEAKER_03For sure.
SPEAKER_02I think that's part of why we do this work too, is just to say this is a systematic thing. This is um it's not you as an individual doing anything wrong. It's that there's a lot of systems at play here, and how can we affect those and make change?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And that those systems haven't adapted to the changes and realities that students are facing in terms of the cost of education and the cost of living, and then the complexities for uh adult students or student parents, and recognizing too that colleges that have been able to help address basic needs of students, guiding them to access them and destigmatizing some of these benefits. From my understanding, the colleges that have been able to do that, it's been on soft money with grants that have an end date and it really hasn't been systemic or sustainable. This bill and the funding behind the bill would really create that stability so that these roles are established and created and sustained.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I think you know this isn't something that is going away, right? Student basic need and essential need insecurity is clearly not going away. And so being able to have a person to connect with, to connect with resources just feels like it's such a critical first effort in trying to address this.
SPEAKER_03Well, I just appreciate you taking the time, Chloe, while we're in the middle of this legislative session and all the work that you and your colleagues are doing at Partners on this bill and on your Hunger Free Campuses campaign. So thank you for taking the time to discuss all of this work and thank you for your ongoing leadership and partners' leadership to really help address food insecurity with students and even more broadly across the state with Oregonians.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you so much for having me and just so appreciative of student voices just being centered in this podcast and their leadership as being highlighted.
SPEAKER_03That'll do it for this episode of All In Student Pathways Forward. For our next episode in a few weeks, I'll have the chance to speak with Baker Alka Rowley, a student at Matthew Community College, conversation with President Dr. Lisa Skari, and lastly a discussion with Katie Brown, the government relations director at the Association of Team College trustees. So taking the policy conversation at the federal level. Thanks again for listening in. I'll see you the next time.